It is very disturbing to read and listen to the noisy clamour in the political environment today.
There is a distinct lack of rational, considered and civil debate.
Our Parliamentarians, on the whole, engage in aggressive and time wasting insults instead of using precious minutes to genuinely work for the good of the country rather than for headlines and fleeting political advantage.
The Letters Columns in our local press are full of self-referencing catcalling and do not really present their cases at all convincingly.
Instead of rationally discussing the immense challenges of the 21st Century, people flash to such irrelevancies as the Opposition Leader’s choice of swimming costume and his whirling sporting activities or the PM’s voice or dress sense.
We, and they, should not be distracted from the important jobs they are there to do, both for now and the future of Australia.
Technology is moving faster than we can really come to terms with: much faster than when cars began to replace horses and buggies and wheelwrights and carriage builders found themselves having to reassess and accommodate to their changed situations.
We no longer burn coal in little grates to keep ourselves warm or boil our clothes in a copper.
And do you know, when change became accepted, we discovered that the sky hadn’t fallen.
Increasing pollution resulting from our lifestyle is undeniable and our current energy sources are finite. Utilities have not spent money on updating infrastructure and are now charging customers for their oversights.
Governments on both sides have not maintained – much less replaced or extended – vital national infrastructure.
We live in a globalised world now and can’t pull the blankets over our heads – the world simply doesn’t work that way any more.
Emotional mob responses in the community do not solve problems and do nothing to resolve our challenges in a considered and sensible way.
Susan Dunn,
Armidale
